Thursday, January 12, 2012

Book Review - Pandemonium (no spoilers)

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven taught me to do. The old life is dead. But the old Lena is dead too. I buried her. I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite. (goodreads summary)

You know that feeling you get after listening to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On? Do you need to listen to it to understand what I mean? Okay...

The moment I hear the first four notes of this ballad, I am immediately drawn back to fifth grade when I sat in the theater and watched this movie for the third time. Naively, I believed that if only I hoped with enough passion, the story would end differently. Now 20+ viewings of this movie later, my emotions are still sent into an extreme whirl of insanity.

Anyway, Celine Dion was clearly not referring to Pandemonium; if she was, the song would be called, My Heart Will Not Go On. Because my heart is currently laying at my feet. It exploded out of my chest after reading this book.

Lauren Oliver is a true master of words and a true manipulator of emotions! I haven't read a book of hers (Liesl & Po, Before I Fall, andDelirium) where my heart wasn’t placed on a string and tossed around like a yo-yo. And if I should ever not feel my heart ripped out and my stomach bleeding while reading one of her beautiful stories, one of two things might have happened. Either I am not who I pretend to be as someone has used the polly juice potion and has taken over my life -- or -- I will have a three pronged scar below my ear. An indication that I was forced to undergo the Deliria cure and can no longer feel strong emotions.

Fortunately, neither of these things are true.

Opening Pandemonium, I had to take a few deep breaths before I even read the first word--my heart was already beating too fast. I didn't fully know what I was in store for, but I had a good sense that it would drive me crazy and perhaps result in a few torn book pages (definitely achieved both). What I didn't plan for was the constant tears in my eyes, the nauseous feeling of anticipation, and rat people.

To put it mildly, I loved this book. To put it strongly, I have never loved a book I hated so much in my whole life. It is everything I expect out of Lauren Oliver and exactly what I would hope as a follow up to a book that still makes me cry.

Pandemonium is a whole other ball game than Delirium. It is packed with action, desperation and blood. More of a story of survival than a story of love, but still filled with those incredible, pulsating emotions.

I literally threw this book across the room at the last page. Literally. Not even kidding. It got a bit crinkled.

Break my heart, torture my soul, and drag me across the ground kicking and screaming. My heart will not go on. It has stopped and will remain in this state until the third book provides some solace.

You have literally made me SO excited to start this series (: I've been putting it off for a while, but by the way you're explaining how amazing Pandemonium is, then I sorta just wanna pick it up right in this very instant! ahaha (: Wonderful review!

Your review has *my* heart thumping. And I haven't read Delirium, yet! I also greatly appreciate the Celine Dion reference. Side note, Titanic will be back in theaters in April. For those of us who were "popcorned" in elementary school at the theater, this is awesome.

You were better than I was for producing a spoiler-free review. GOod for you! I especially like what you said here: "To put it mildly, I loved this book. To put it strongly, I have never loved a book I hated so much in my whole life."